This Week on Straight to the Bar
I’m constantly amazed at just how much my training is influenced by the people on this site. Whether you’re looking for a new piece of equipment, an unusual exercise variation or just an idea of how others approach things, you’ll enjoy these :
Gem From the Vault : Bruce Lee’s Back Injury
Scott Andrew Bird
What really happened – and how would you address an injury like this?- Looking At : Apr 28, 2013
Scott Andrew Bird
We’ve been discussing some very interesting techniques, products and services recently. Here are the highlights.
Over to you. I’d love to hear what you think : leave your comments on the above articles, and share them with your friends/colleagues/clients and so on.
NB : If you’d like to submit your own piece for Straight to the Bar, here’s how.
Video : Pinch Grip Around the Body Passes
Simple idea, fantastic exercise. Over to Adam.
Incidentally, he manages to make it look almost effortless. It’s not.
Gymchat 202 – Intermittent Fasting (with Josh Hewett)
What’s your current diet like? When do you eat, and why?
This week we’ll be talking about the fascinating world of Intermittent Fasting. What it is, why it’s worth considering and how it all works. Helping us tackle this fascinating area is Personal Trainer and Strongman Josh Hewett and Personal Trainer Kirk Fontaine. Should be a great one – see you there.
Details –
Who : Intermittent Fasting
Topic : Intermittent Fasting
When : Wednesday May 1, 9pm EST
How : Google+ Hangout. If you’ve never been to one, here’s how to take part.
URL : We’ll be announcing this shortly – both on the blog and on Google+ itself.
NB : If this is the first time you’re joining us for one of the Video Gymchats, welcome. There are three basic ways to watch this (depending on whether you want to join us on the Hangout and ask a question or two, or just sit back and take it all in) – full details here. However you like to do it, we’ve got you covered.
Coming Up : In upcoming Gymchats we’ll be discussing CrossFit, Rope Training and the Fitness Future of technologies such as Google Glass. Get your questions ready.
And if you’d like to suggest a topic for a future discussion – or volunteer to be interviewed on the show – just drop us a line. Cheers.
Tip of the Week: Constantly Fine-Tune Things
Each week we publish a number of tips and techniques via Twitter, Google+, the blog; and now the newsletter. Wherever you are, there’s always a way to improve what you’re doing.
I’ve received more emails over the years on the transition to biphasic sleeping than almost anything else I’ve ever written. I can’t thank everyone enough for those, they really are appreciated. Thank you.
Most of them take the form of ‘do you think this would work…‘ and the answer is usually to try it and see. I really haven’t made any large structural changes to the original routine; however there has been a little fine-tuning. A snippet from the article Biphasic Sleep : 30 Day Summary explains the overall idea :
When I started doing this, my idea was to have a 1.5 hour nap and a 3 hour main sleep period. This proved to be a little under what my body required, and I switched to a 3/4.5 hour split (3 hours by default, 4.5 on workout days). Once again this didn’t feel like quite enough, and I changed to a regular 1.5 hour nap followed by a 4.5 hour sleep (every day). This feels right.
I say this to demonstrate that making small changes can be of benefit, and I’ll continue to make them as required. As the volume of weight training increases (as it almost certainly will), as I age and as my life situation in general changes; the length of the main sleep period will change.
Good stuff.
Checking Out : The Human Effect Matrix
Looks great.
We’ll be discussing this one in detail shortly, but suffice to say, it looks fantastic.
For a brief introduction to this incredibly powerful tool, it’s over to Examine’s own Sol Orwell :
At the end of the day, we care about answering one question: What does a supplement do?
And today we finally solved that problem. We’ve replaced the confusing and cumbersome “Human Trials Database” with a “Human Effect Matrix“.
For every supplement in our database, a handy table will tell you what effect each supplement has and how noticeable that effect is.
Does Supplement X help with Y? Now you’ll know.
For a complete rundown, head over to the official blog. Good stuff.
Quick update on the Renaissance Fitness Supplement Kits we mentioned recently – superb idea.
As we noted, we’ll be reviewing these shortly. And if you missed the announcement, here’s a brief video to explain the basic idea :
For more information, head on over to the official site – renaissancefitnessinc.com.
Exercise of the Week : Reverse Band Rows
A great one for shirted benching (and for checking a lifter’s form, particularly at the point where the bar touches the chest) – the Reverse Band Row.
Incidentally, if you’d like to get in touch regarding this or any other aspect of strength, you can contact me here. Look forward to hearing from you.
Kettlebell Exercise Demonstrations & Tutorials
We’ve looked at a lot of kettlebell exercises and variations over the years – in the form of tips, tutorials and demonstrations.
Where do you find them all? Right here – a complete list of Kettlebell Exercise Demonstrations & Tutorials.
Enjoy.
A Daily Dose
Love this stuff? Same here. If you’re looking for a daily dose of strength-training goodness, grab the Straight to the Bar Daily.
Absolutely free.
Free Downloads from the Strength Kit
I recently added a number of resources to the Straight to the Bar Strength Kit, and as a Strength & Fitness Newsletter subscriber you’re more than welcome to download as many of them as you like. Several great eBooks, podcasts and videos – all absolutely free.
Just head over here, save them to your hard-drive, and dive in.
Good stuff.
NB : This is an ever-changing list. If you’d like to put your own work in front of a fantastic strength-focussed audience, let me know.
Want to Help Out?
As you’ve doubtless noticed, in addition to the main site is a Community on Google+, Facebook and Twitter. Wherever you are, a daily dose of strength isn’t all that far away.
To help run all of these sites, we’re on the lookout for several new Moderators. To welcome new community members, bring up new items to discuss and generally keep the conversations on track.
If you’re already spending a bit of time at any of the above sites, and would like to offer your services as a Moderator, just drop us a line below. And thanks for that, it really is appreciated.
Contact either :
Kirk Fontaine, Community Manager, Straight to the Bar
or me :
Scott Andrew Bird, Editor, Straight to the Bar
Thanks again. Look forward to hearing from you.